Call monitoring

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for monitoring calls routed to a telephone network-based voice mail system. When a subscriber receives a telephone call, a determination is made as to whether the call should be routed to the voice mail system. If call monitoring services are activated, a three-way communication is set up between the calling party, the voice mail system and the subscriber. The subscriber is bridged into the call on a listen-only basis, but upon command by the subscriber, the subscriber may answer the call.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to methods and systems for monitoringcalls routed to a voice mail system from a subscriber telephone.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A common use for telephone answering machines is call screening or callmonitoring. In a typical setting, the user of a telephone answeringmachine may set the answering machine so that the user may listen toincoming messages as they are being recorded on the answering machine.If the user recognizes the voice of the calling party and would like tospeak with the calling party, the user may answer the call. On the otherhand, if the user does not recognize the calling party, or if the userotherwise does not want to take the call, the user simply may allow thecalling party to finish recording the message. This call screening orcall monitoring ability is particularly useful to avoid unwantedtelephone solicitations.

Many modern telephone systems include network-based voice mail systemsto which incoming calls are routed when the voice mail system user'stelephone is busy or is not answered. In such systems incoming callersare routed directly to the voice mail system if the user's telephone isbusy or is unanswered. That is, the call is not routed through theuser's telephone where he or she may listen to the voice mail messagebeing recorded by the calling party in order to screen or monitor thecall. The user must simply wait until the message has been recorded bythe calling party and then call into the voice mail system to retrievethe message. Moreover, if the user is away from the user's telephone ata remote location, the user has no way of knowing that a message hasbeen left for the user other than to call into the voice mail systemfrom time to time to check for voice mail messages.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the presentinvention has been made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other problemsare solved by methods and systems for monitoring calls routed to atelephone network voice mail system from a subscriber telephone. Asubscriber to voice mail services contacts her telephone servicesprovider to request call monitoring services. Once the subscriber isvalidated as an authorized subscriber, the subscriber may activate callmonitoring services so that the subscriber may screen or monitor callsdirected to a network-based voice mail system when the subscriber doesnot answer an incoming call.

After call monitoring setup is complete, the subscriber may monitor orscreen incoming voice mail messages when the subscriber does not answeran incoming call. When the subscriber receives a telephone call, adetermination is made as to whether the subscriber's line is busy orwhether the call goes unanswered. If the subscriber's line is busy, thecall is routed directly to the voice mail system where the calling partymay leave a voice mail message for the subscriber. If the call goesunanswered, a query is triggered to a network element, such as a servicecontrol point, where a determination is made as to whether the callmonitoring service is activated for the subscriber's line.

If call monitoring is activated for the subscriber's line, the networkelement routes the call to a second network element, such as a servicenode, and includes with the routed call the subscriber's telephonedirectory number, the voice mail system access number, and the callingparty's telephone directory number. The second network element, such asthe services node, then establishes a three-way conference call betweenthe incoming calling party, the voice mail system and the subscriber ina listen-only mode. Thus, the subscriber may listen to the voice mailmessage being recorded by the calling party in order to screen ormonitor the call. In order to set up the three-way conference call, thesecond network element, places a call to the subscriber at thesubscriber's telephone directory number so that the subscriber mayanswer and listen to the voice mail message being recorded by theincoming calling party. If the subscriber answers the call form thesecond network element, the subscriber immediately may be bridged intothe call between the calling party and the voice mail system withoutadditional action by the subscriber. If desired, a distinctive ring maybe provided to the subscriber to allow the subscriber readily toascertain that the call is associated with the call monitoring service.Additionally, the telephone directory number of the second networkelement and a caller name identification such as “call monitoringservice” may be provided in the caller identification screen of thesubscriber's telephone.

If desired, when the subscriber answers the call from the second networkelement, the subscriber may be provided a recorded instruction as to howto interrupt the three-way communication and accept the call from thecalling party. Accordingly, while the subscriber is listening to theincoming voice mail message, the subscriber may selectively interruptthe voice mail recording session and accept the call from the incomingcalling party. If the subscriber chooses to accept the incoming call,the second network element, removes the voice mail system from thethree-way communication to create a two-way communication between thecalling party and the subscriber.

These and other features and advantages, which characterize the presentinvention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detaileddescription and a review of the associated drawings. It is to beunderstood that both the foregoing general description and the followingdetailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are notrestrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating components of a wireline and wireless communications network that provides an operatingenvironment for the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a logical call flow of the steps performed by amethod system of the present invention for monitoring calls routed to anetwork-based voice mail system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of embodiments of the present invention ismade with reference to the above-described drawings wherein likenumerals refer to like parts or components throughout the severalfigures. The present invention is directed to methods and systems formonitoring calls routed to a network-based voice mail system.

Operating Environment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a wireline andwireless telephone network that provides an exemplary operatingenvironment for the present invention. The public switched telephonenetwork 110 that evolved in the 1980s incorporated the advancedintelligent network (AIN). Some of the components of the advancedintelligent network are illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is illustrative ofat least a part of the advanced intelligent network (AIN) of a typicallocal exchange carrier integrated with components of a wireless network150. The advanced intelligent network (AIN) uses the signaling system 7(SS7) network for signal or system control message transport. Thecomponents thereof are well known to those skilled in the art. Theoperation of many of the components of the advanced intelligent networkis also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,719 to Weisser entitled“Mediation of Open Advanced Intelligent Network Interface by SharedExecution Environment” which is incorporated herein by reference. TheSS7 communications protocol is provided in the document entitled “BellCommunications Research Specification of Signaling System 7,” DocumentTR-NWT-000246, Issue 2 (June 1991), plus Revision 1 (December 1991),which is also incorporated herein by reference.

A plurality of central offices are provided in a typical public switchedtelephone network 110. As shown in FIG. 1, each central office mayinclude an electronic switch known to those skilled in the art as aservice switching point (SSP). These are indicated in FIG. 1 as SSPswitches 112, 114 and 116. The number of SSP switches depends on thenumber of subscribers to be served by the public switched telephonenetwork. An SSP is the AIN component of a typical electronic centraloffice switch used by a local exchange carrier. The terms “SSP” and“switch” are used interchangeably hereinafter and are understood torefer to a telecommunications switch having AIN capability and which maybe utilized for connecting voice channel circuits, including voicechannel lines, such as the trunk circuit 130.

As shown in FIG. 1, switches (SSP) 112, 114, and 116 have a plurality ofsubscriber lines 118 and 120 connected thereto. Each of the subscriberlines 118 and 120 is connected to a terminating piece or pieces ofcustomer premises equipment that are represented by telephones 121 and124. SSP switches 112 and 114 are connected by a plurality of trunkcircuits 130. These are the voice path trunks that interconnect thecentral offices 112 and 114 and over which calls are connected whencompleted.

Each piece of terminating equipment in the PSTN is preferably assigned adirectory number. The term “directory number” is used herein in a mannerconsistent with its generally understood meaning of a number that isdialed or input by an originating party at an originating station toreach a terminating station associated with the directory number. Adirectory number, typically a ten digit number, is commonly referred toas a “telephone number” and may be assigned to a specific telephoneline, such as the telephone line 118 shown in FIG. 1.

Much of the intelligence, and the basis for many of the enhancedfeatures of the network, resides in the local service control point(SCP) 142. As is known to those skilled in the art, service controlpoints, such as the SCP 42, are physically implemented by relativelypowerful fault tolerant computers. Among the functions performed by theservice control points is maintenance of network databases used inproviding enhanced services. Service control points, such as SCP 142,normally implement high volume routing services, such as call forwardingand 800 number translation and routing. They are also used formaintenance of and providing access to high volume databases forauthorization of billing, such as credit card number validations. Inmost local exchange carrier networks, service control points are onlyused for data base look up and routing services that take place prior tothe logical completion of the call, i.e., the provision of a ringingsignal to the called subscriber line and ring back to the callingsubscriber.

The modern Advanced Intelligent Network also includes service nodes (SN)such as the service node 158. Those skilled in the art are familiar withservice nodes, which are physically implemented by the same types ofcomputers that embody the SCP 142. In addition to the computingcapability and data base maintenance features, service nodes 158 useISDN lines and may include DTMF signal recognition devices, tonegeneration devices, text to speech (TTS) voice synthesis devices andother voice or data resources. As shown in FIG. 1, the connection isthrough the SSP. For example, SN 158 is connected to SCP 142 via ISDNlinks 153 to SSP 114, ISDN/SS7 protocol conversion in SSP 112, and SS7links 138. According to a preferred embodiment, the ISDN links 153 serveas a primary rate interface (PRI) over which services may be provided tosubscribers using wireline services such as the wireline telephone sets121 and 124 and subscribers using wireless services such as the wirelessunits.

The voice mail system 165 is shown in FIG. 1 being functionallyconnected to the switch 116 and is a component of the network. That is,calls are routed to and from the voice mail system 165 at the controland direction of the network via such components as the SCP 142.According to one embodiment, the voice mail system 165 may be connectedto the switch 116 via a voice trunk interface line 137 using asimplified message desk interface (SMDI) to allow a switch to delivercalling parties and called parties to the voice mail system and to allowthe voice mail system to instruct the switch to set a message waitingindicator on a subscriber's telephone. In operation, the voice mailsystem 165 is treated like a switch 114 whereby calls directed to voicemail boxes maintained at the voice mail system 165 are directed to thevoice mail system 165 as calls are directed to customer premisesequipment, such as telephones, via switches 112, 114.

The voice mail system 165 typically includes a computer or collection ofcomputers, recording and recording playback devices, and software forrecording announcements for incoming calls, recording and playing backrecorded messages, and for receiving incoming calls and for makingoutgoing calls at the direction of the network. In addition to therecording and playback functionality, the voice mail system 165 includestext-to-speech (TTS) and speech-to-text (STT) synthesis devices andsoftware for conversion of analog voice messages to digitized forms suchas WAV files and MP3 files. The voice mail system 165 has memorycapacity for saving announcements to incoming callers and for savingmessages from incoming callers.

The wireless network 150, such as a cellular network, comprises a mobileswitching center (MSC) (not shown). The MSC is a switch providingservices and coordination between wireless users in the network 150 andexternal networks. The MSC also communicates with a wireless subscriber,such as wireless telephone. The wireless telephone 155 is alsoillustrative of other wireless computing devices, such as pagers andpersonal digital assistants.

In operation, the intelligent network elements of the AIN, as describedabove, communicate with each other via digital data messages transmittedover the network of digital data links. An SSP may be configured tointerface with these network elements through the use of a trigger. Atrigger in the network is an event associated with a particularsubscriber line or call that causes the SSP to generate a data packetmessage to be sent to a service control point. In order to keep theprocessing of data and calls as simple and generic as possible atcentral office switches, such as SSP switches 112 and 114, a relativelysmall set of triggers are defined at the SSP switches for each call.

The message created by an SSP in response to the “firing” of a triggeris known as a “query” message. A query message opens a “transaction” andthe SSP generally holds the communication until it receives a reply froman appropriate network element via the network of digital data linksinstructing the SSP 112 to take a certain action. If the SSP 112receives no instructions within a certain amount of time, the SSP“times-out” and executes a default task for the communication. The replyto the query message may be a “conversation” message or a “response”message. Conversation messages allow for bi-directional exchangesbetween network elements while the transaction remains open. A“response” message closes the transaction opened by the query message,and usually instructs the SSP to route the held communication forconnection with a terminating station. Query messages, conversationmessages, and response messages are standard types of messages definedby the AIN protocol. The details of the AIN protocol are well known tothose skilled in the art and will not be further described herein. Formore information regarding the AIN protocol, see Bellcore SpecificationGR-1298-CORE Switching Systems Generic Requirements for AIN 0.1, whichis incorporated herein by reference.

Operation

Having described an operating environment for the present invention withreference to FIG. 1, the following is a description of the logical flowof steps performed by methods and systems of the present invention foractivating and deactivating a call monitoring service according to thepresent invention. Also described are the logical flows of stepsperformed by methods and systems of the present invention for monitoringcalls routed to a network-based voice mail system according to a varietyof call monitoring service filter settings.

In order to provision call monitoring services on the subscriber's line120, a subscriber contacts her telephone services provider. According toone embodiment of the present invention the subscriber may contact thetelephone services provider via her telephone 124 using a feature codesuch as “*12” for allowing the subscriber access to the call monitoringservices for activating the call monitoring service on her telephoneline. According to an alternative embodiment, the subscriber may contactthe telephone services provider via an Internet-based website operatedby the telephone services provider for allowing subscribers to accessservices such as the call monitoring services of the present inventionvia a personal computer.

Once the subscriber is validated as being authorized to activate ordeactivate the call monitoring service by requiring an identificationsuch as a pass code from the subscriber, the subscriber's switch 114queries the service control point 142 for the current status of the callmonitoring service. In response, an announcement may be played to thesubscriber such as “call monitoring is on, or call monitoring is off.” Amenu of options is provided to the subscriber to allow the subscriber toedit the current operating status of the call monitoring service on hertelephone line. For example, the subscriber may turn the call monitoringservice on or off in response to a message such as “to activate the callmonitoring service, press 1.” If the subscriber selects to have the callmonitoring service activated, then when the subscriber does not answeran incoming call the call monitoring service is provided if the incomingcall is passed to the voice mail system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a logical call flow of the steps performed by amethod and system of the present invention for monitoring calls routedto a network-based voice mail system. The method 200 begins at startstep 205 and proceeds to step 210. At step 210, a calling partyutilizing her telephone 121 dials the telephone directory number of thesubscriber at the subscriber's telephone 124. At step 215, adetermination is made at the subscriber's switch 114 as to whether thecall is answered. If the call is answered, the method ends. If the callis not answered a determination is made as to whether a Call ForwardingNo Answer feature is activated or whether a Call Forwarding on Busyfeature is activated. As should be understood by those skilled in theart, if a Call Forwarding No Answer feature is activated, then callsdirected to the subscriber's telephone directory number are forwarded tothe voice mail system 165 if the call to the subscriber is not answered.If the Call Forwarding on Busy feature is activated then calls directedto the subscriber's telephone directory number are forwarded to thevoice mail system 165 if the subscriber's line 120 is busy.

If the call is not answered by the subscriber at step 215, the call isrouted to the voice mail system 165 directory number or access number atstep 220 so that the calling party may leave a message for thesubscriber in a subscriber voice mail box provisioned at the voice mailsystem 165. At step 225, the call is received at the switch 114 forrouting to the voice mail system 165. At step 230, because callmonitoring has been provisioned for the subscriber, the routing of thecall to the switch 114 for ultimate routing to the voice mail system 165fires a public office dialing plan (PODP) trigger for obtaining callmonitoring services. As should be understood, other types of triggerssuch as a termination attempt trigger (TAT) may be used instead of thePODP trigger. According to a preferred embodiment, a single query, suchas the PODP triggered query, is required to invoke the call monitoringfunctionality as described herein. If call monitoring service is notprovisioned on the subscriber's line 120, the incoming call is routeddirectly to the voice mail system 165 where the calling party may leavea voice mail message for the subscriber.

At step 240, SCP 142 checks the call monitoring service status on thesubscriber's line 120. If the call monitoring status is set to OFF, thecall is routed directly to the voice mail system 165 without callmonitoring treatment. If the call monitoring status is set to ON, theSCP collects information and call processing instructions. The SCP 142collects the calling party's directory number from the query message,the subscriber's directory number retrieved from a subscriber database,and the voice mail system directory number or access number. The SCP 142may also retrieve call processing instructions related to thesubscriber's subscription of services. Call processing instructionsinclude whether the subscriber is to be provided with a distinctive ringand whether the subscriber is to be provided with an instruction as tohow to interrupt the call monitoring service to accept the call from thecalling party.

At step 245, the SCP 142 routes to the service node 158 the callingparty directory number, the subscriber directory number, and the voicemail system 165 directory number or access number. At step 250, theservice node 158 sets up a three-way call between the calling party, thevoice mail system 165 and the subscriber through the central officeswitch 114. The service node 158 bridges the subscriber into the callbetween the calling party and the voice mail system 165 via thesubscriber's telephone 124 by placing a call to the subscriber via thesubscriber's directory number. The service control point may obtain fromthe caller name (CNAM) database 148 a caller identification name for theservice node 158, such as “call monitoring,” and pass that calleridentification information to the subscriber at the telephone 124 sothat the subscriber will recognize that the call from the service node158 is associated with the call monitoring service.

At step 260, when the subscriber answers a call from the service node158 at the subscriber's telephone 124, the subscriber is bridged intothe call between the calling party and the voice mail system 165 to setup a three-way communication so that the subscriber immediately maylisten to the message being recorded by the calling party in order toscreen or monitor the call. According to an embodiment of the presentinvention, at step 265, once the subscriber answers the call from theservice node 158 an announcement is provided to subscriber such as “callmonitoring, to talk to the calling party press 1.” If the announcementis not provided, the subscriber immediately may listen to the voice mailmessage being left by the calling party upon answering the call from theSN 158.

At step 270, the subscriber listens to the voice mail being left by thecalling party, and monitoring of the incoming voice mail message may beset for a duration equal to the amount of time available to the callingparty for leaving a voice mail message to the subscriber. That is, ifthe calling party may leave a message up to a length of 120 seconds,then the subscriber may listen to the recording of the voice mailmessage for up to 120 seconds.

At step 275, if the subscriber elects to interrupt the voice message andaccept the call in response to the prompt from the service node 158, theservice node 158 removes the voice mail system 165 from the three-waycommunication between the voice mail system, the calling party and thesubscriber. The service node then may transfer the call between thesubscriber and calling party to the central office or SSP hosting the SN158 to make available the PRI ports of the SN 158 for other calls.

According to an alternative embodiment, the subscriber may subscribe toa distinctive ringing service whereby the subscriber may store andselect the call monitoring directory number associated with a callmonitoring service call from the SN 158 for presentation with adistinctive ring anytime a call from that number is received. As isknown to those skilled in the art, distinctive ringing services allow asubscriber to select certain numbers for presentation with distinctiverings. For example, if the subscriber selects a close friend's telephonedirectory number as a distinctive ringing number, when the subscriberreceives a telephone call from that telephone directory number, thesubscriber is presented with a distinctive ring that alerts thesubscriber to the identity of that calling party. According to anembodiment of the present invention, the calling party may select thecall monitoring service directory number associated with the servicenode 158 for treatment with a distinctive ring. Accordingly, when thesubscriber receives a call monitoring service call from the service node158, as described above, the subscriber will receive a distinctive ringto alert the subscriber that the incoming call is a call monitoringservice call.

As described, methods and systems are provided for monitoring callsrouted to a network-based voice mail system. It will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that various modifications and variations maybe made in the present invention without departing from the scope orspirit of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of thespecification and practice of the invention described herein.

1. A method of monitoring calls routed to a voice mail system,comprising: receiving a call from a calling party directed to adirectory number of a subscriber; determining whether the call from thecalling party is answered; if the call from the calling party is notanswered, then determining whether the call should be forwarded to thevoice mail system; if the call should be forwarded to the voice mailsystem, querying a first network element for call monitoring services,wherein the first network element is a Service Control Point (SCP) of anAdvanced Intelligent Network (AIN); at the SCP, providing callmonitoring instructions to a second network element, wherein the secondnetwork element is a Services Node (SN) of the AIN and wherein the callmonitoring instructions include the directory number of the subscriber,an access number associated with the voice mail system, and a directorynumber associated with the calling party; at the SN, setting up acommunication between the calling party and the voice mail system; atthe SN, calling the subscriber via the directory number of thesubscriber; at the SN, providing an announcement to the subscriberproviding the subscriber a recorded instruction for interrupting thethree-way communication in order to accept the call from the callingparty; and if the call from the SN is answered, setting up a three-waycommunication between the calling party, the voice mail system, and thesubscriber wherein setting up the three-way call is initiated only bythe call from the SN being answered.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinsetting up a three-way communication between the calling party, thevoice mail system and the subscriber, includes allowing the subscriberto listen only to a voice message while the voice message is beingrecorded by the calling party into the voice mail system.
 3. The methodof claim 2, further comprising: interrupting the three-way communicationbetween the calling party, the voice mail system and the subscriber; andconnecting the call from the calling party to the subscriber at thesubscriber directory number to allow a two-way communication between thecalling party and the subscriber.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinconnecting the call from the calling party to the subscriber at thesubscriber directory number to allow a two-way communication between thecalling party and the subscriber includes: removing the voice mailsystem from the three-way communication; and transferring the two-waycommunication away from the SN.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinreceiving a call from a calling party directed to a subscriber directorynumber, includes receiving the call at a subscriber switch; and whereinquerying a first network element for call monitoring services includesfiring a public office dialing plan (PODP) trigger at the subscriberswitch to launch a query to the first network element.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein determining whether the call should be forwarded to thevoice mail system includes determining whether the call is answered. 7.The method of claim 1, prior to setting up a three-way communicationbetween the calling party, the voice mail system and the subscriber,providing the subscriber a calling party identification associated withthe call monitoring services to alert the subscriber that an incomingcall from the second network element is associated with call monitoringservices.
 8. The method of claim 1, prior to setting up a three waycommunication between the calling party, the voice mail system and thesubscriber, providing the subscriber a distinctive ring to alert thesubscriber that an incoming call from the second network element isassociated with call monitoring services.
 9. A system for monitoringcalls routed to a voice mail system, comprising: a switch operative toreceive a call from a calling party directed to a directory number of asubscriber; to determine whether the call is answered; to determinewhether the call should be forwarded to the voice mail system if thecall is not answered; to query a first network element for callmonitoring services if the call should be forwarded to the voice mailsystem, wherein the first network element is a Service Control Point(SCP) of an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN); the SCP operative toprovide call monitoring instructions to a second network element,wherein the second network element is a Services Node (SN) of the AINand wherein the call monitoring instructions include the directorynumber of the subscriber, a directory number associated with the voicemail system, and a directory number associated with the calling party;the SN operative to set up a communication between the calling party andthe voice mail system; to call the subscriber via the directory numberof the subscriber; to provide the subscriber recorded instructions forinterrupting the three-way communication in order to accept the callfrom the calling party; and to set up a three-way communication betweenthe calling party, the voice mail system and the subscriber if the callfrom the second network element is answered wherein setting up thethree-way call is initiated only by the call from the second networkelement being answered.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the SN isfurther operative to allow the subscriber to listen only to a voicemessage while the voice message is being recorded by the calling partyinto the voice mail system.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the SNis further operative to interrupt the three-way communication betweenthe calling party, the voice mail system and the subscriber; and toconnect the call from the calling party to the subscriber at thesubscriber directory number to allow a two-way communication between thecalling party and the subscriber.
 12. The system of claim 11, whereinthe SN is further operative to remove the voice mail system from thethree-way communication; and to transfer the two-way communication awayfrom the second network element.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein theswitch is further operative to fire a public office dialing plan (PODP)trigger at the switch to launch a query to the SCP for call monitoringservices if the call should be forwarded to the voice mail system. 14.The system of claim 9, wherein the SCP is further operative to providethe subscriber a calling party identification associated with the callmonitoring services to alert the subscriber that an incoming call fromthe SN is associated with call monitoring services.
 15. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the SCP is further operative to cause the switch toprovide the subscriber a distinctive ring to alert the subscriber thatan incoming call from the SN is associated with call monitoringservices.
 16. A method of monitoring calls routed to a voice mailsystem, comprising: receiving a call from a calling party directed to adirectory number of a subscriber, wherein the call from the callingparty is associated with a first ring; determining whether the call fromthe calling party is answered; if the call from the calling party is notanswered, then determining whether the call should be forwarded to thevoice mail system; if the call should be forwarded to the voice mailsystem, querying a first network element for call monitoring services;at the first network element, providing call monitoring instructions toa second network element, wherein the call monitoring instructionsinclude the directory number of the subscriber, an access numberassociated with the voice mail system, and a directory number associatedwith the calling party; at the second network element, setting up acommunication between the calling party and the voice mail system; atthe second network element, calling the subscriber via the directorynumber of the subscriber; providing the subscriber a second ringassociated with the call from the second network element to alert thesubscriber that the call from the second network element is associatedwith the call monitoring services, wherein the second ring is distinctfrom the first ring; at the second network element, providing thesubscriber a recorded instruction in order to accept the call from thecalling party, wherein the recorded instruction is sent by the secondnetwork element; and if the call from the second network element isanswered, setting up a three-way communication between the callingparty, the voice mail system, and the subscriber wherein setting up thethree-way call is initiated only by the call from the second networkelement being answered.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein setting up athree-way communication between the calling party, the voice mailsystem, and the subscriber, includes allowing the subscriber to listenonly to a voice message while the voice message is being recorded by thecalling party into the voice mail system.
 18. The method of claim 16,further comprising: providing an announcement to the subscriberproviding the subscriber instructions for interrupting the three-waycommunication in order to accept the call from the calling party;interrupting the three-way communication between the calling party, thevoice mail system, and the subscriber; and connecting the call from thecalling party to the subscriber at the subscriber directory number toallow a two-way communication between the calling party and thesubscriber.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein connecting the call fromthe calling party to the subscriber at the subscriber directory numberto allow a two-way communication between the calling party and thesubscriber includes: removing the voice mail system from the three-waycommunication; and transferring the two-way communication away from thesecond network element.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein receiving acall from a calling party directed to a subscriber directory number,includes receiving the call at a subscriber switch; and wherein queryinga first network element for call monitoring services includes firing apublic office dialing plan (PODP) trigger at the subscriber switch tolaunch a query to the first network element.
 21. The method of claim 16,wherein determining whether the call should be forwarded to the voicemail system includes determining whether the call is answered.
 22. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the first network element is a ServiceControl Point (SCP) of an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN).
 23. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the second network element is a Service Node(SN) of the AIN.
 24. The method of claim 16, prior to setting up athree-way communication between the calling party, the voice mailsystem, and the subscriber, providing the subscriber a calling partyidentification associated with the call monitoring services to alert thesubscriber that an incoming call from the second network element isassociated with call monitoring services.